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Everyone came outside. The kitchen was to the right, chairs and tables in the center, and a pool in front of us. If you walked along the path by the pool, it led to the beach, and on the other side of a white, veil-style fence, I had a firepit with built-in chairs in the sand. It was a lot, I got that, but I liked having a place where all of us could be, liked knowing that if Corbin, Parker, or Declan ever needed somewhere to stay, they had a place here. The four of us—well, shit, the six of us now—had everything we could possibly need right at our fingertips. We’d consoled Parker after bad dates here, we’d supported Declan because of his asshole father here, and we’d done our best to make Corbin feel beautiful here as well.
“Hey, baby. You’re spacing out.” Kai leaned against the house, watching me stand in front of the open grill.
“Is it baby or Teddy?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know. It depends on my mood. Which do you like better?”
“Marcus,” I replied.
“Liar.”
I finished putting the food on, set the utensils down, and closed the lid. “You’re trouble.”
“Nah, not trouble. I just challenge you. No one else does that.” He didn’t try to hide the fact that he was admiring me, his warm stare taking me in. “Go swimming with me.”
“No.”
“Fine. Maybe Corbin wants to go.” He moved to walk away, but my arm shot out, hand against the house, blocking him in.
“No,” I said again.
“No? This isn’t one of the times you get to tell me what to do.”
“No, you can’t make me jealous with my best friend.”
“So you admit you would be?” He licked his lips.
My skin heated, a bead of perspiration running down the side of my neck. “Not what I was saying. It’s not possible with them. I might play around like it is, but it’s not.” Because even if I never let myself have Kai, they knew I wanted him and would never do that to me.
“Ah, gotchu. You already staked a claim. If that’s the case…when are you going to take what’s yours?” Kai asked, surprising me by stepping close and licking that bead of sweat from my skin. “I’ll tell you a secret… I flirt with them for fun. You’re the one I want.”
My stomach flipped in a way I was unfamiliar with. Before I could respond or try to get the upper hand, Kai sneaked under my arm, tugging his shirt off while he walked, then jumped into the pool.
“Let’s go swimming,” Corbin said, not surprisingly. He turned to me. “Come on, Marcus. I’ll get in and out to watch the food.”
I motioned for him to go ahead. He cocked his brow in a silent question: you sure? When I nodded, he stripped down to his underwear and jumped in. Elliott and Parker were next, followed by Sebastian taking his clothes off. He tried to remove Dec’s too, but my friend shook his head, pushed his boyfriend into the water, then made his way over to me.
We watched them together, Parker and Elliott trying to dunk Sebastian, and Corbin lifting Kai to his shoulders before the two of them crashed into the water again. “They’re all like a bunch of fucking kids,” I said, noticing the amusement in my own voice.
“Yeah, but it’s kinda great, isn’t it? I love that we have this. I never thought I’d have anything until I had you, Park, and Corb, and now we have them too.”
“Damn, boy. Falling in love has put you in touch with your feelings,” I teased, earning a chuckle.
“It’s annoying as shit. I try not to do it often. I just like seeing Sebastian this way. Having fun with friends, with people who don’t give a shit if he ever acts in another movie or not.”
“I hear ya.”
I had a feeling something was coming in three…two…one… “You’re different with Kai.”
“He’s a pain in my ass.”
Declan chuckled. “Yeah, I know. He’s a pain in mine too sometimes. But he’s a good guy. There’s something about him. I took to him too—in a different way than you, of course.”
I didn’t look at Declan, keeping my features schooled, watching Kai enjoy himself with my family. He ducked his head under the water, trying to escape Parker. When he burst through the surface again, he had the biggest smile on his face, which I fucking felt just looking at him. It was like people around him fed off his happiness and zest for life and… What. The. Fuck. Was I even thinking?
“Maybe I should just fuck him and get it over with,” I mused. I could get this craving for him out of my system. There was no fear of it being awkward afterward. Kai didn’t want more from me other than my dick. He was young, and I’d just be that guy he’d had an orgasm with as he figured out what he wanted in life.
